Apple to release iOS 6.1.2 to address passcode vulnerability by February 20 -report

Apple is already working on an update to iOS 6 to address a dangerous passcode vulnerability discovered earlier in the week, with one report claiming that the company anticipated issuing the update as early as next week.

German blog iFunpublished the latest information on the fix Friday, saying that iOS 6.1.2 will arrive early next week, and likely before February 20. iFun accurately predicted the launch of iOS 6.1.1, relying on the same sources that tell them 6.1.2 is on the way.

News of the lockscreen exploit hit the Internet Wednesday. Using the bypass method, one can view and modify an iPhone owner's contacts, listen to voicemail, and browse through their photos. The exploit does not, though, appear to grant access to email or the web.

Apple on Thursday acknowledged the vulnerability. The company, representatives said to the media, is hard at work on a patch, though they provided no hard details on when users could expect one.

Originally Posted by Euphonious
Not really. Clearly it would be difficult to find if you were unaware of the bug, but once you know the procedure (e.g. when it's all over the internet) it's fairly easy to exploit.

See, that wasn't the point. He's claiming it's Apple's fault, when there is no reasonable expectation for them to ever have known about something like this.

A five day turnaround on a bug that isn't even a serious security issue is absolutely amazing. Nothing to criticise here at all.

Conspiracy theory:
Someone at Apple discovered this bug a while ago and kept it on hold until the jailbreak came out. This way Apple can release a fix for both and no one can say that Apple turned off the jailbreak on purpose because they have a perfect cover for the releasing an early fix.

Ugh. Shouldn't have gone out with this bug. Doesn't speak well to Apple's QA process. This usage case is too common not to undergo testing. Somebody should get smacked for this.

This should be fixed no doubt but i wouldn't say this is even a remotely common use case. You have to execute a fairly large number of steps in a proper sequence to even have a chance of this happening. Plus someone would have to have physical access to your phone and have the knowledge to even attempt this. It is a vulnerability that is being addressed, but I doubt that anyone was adversely effected by this. At least until these tech sites and that idiot on You Tube showed everyone how to do this

Another iOS6 oversight got more attention in the past few days, this one affecting teachers, schools or similar organizations trying to prevent users of Apple devices from installing unapproved content.

Interesting but I don't see this a s a big deal. It's only a problem if you are locking down the devices with corporate level security which is not common in Educational Institutions.

It's far more likely that Educational users want managed devices, but still want the ability to install personal apps than it is to have an Educational user that want's to lock everythign down like Fort Knox. Also, if they are managed devices, the content should be controlled through syncing and profiles. The users shouldn't need access to the store for anything other than personal purchases so disallowing the store is actually a very good, albeit temporary, solution.

Not really. Clearly it would be difficult to find if you were unaware of the bug, but once you know the procedure (e.g. when it's all over the internet) it's fairly easy to exploit.

And this is the fault of who, exactly? Click-whoring tech blogs who fell over themselves to publish the instructions and splash the headlines all over the place. It's irresponsible, but noone gives a shit about that anymore. It's a bug that one would never, ever discover by accident, requires physical access to your phone from someone who's taken the time to read how to accomplish it, and with malicious intent. Which is why Apple can be excused for letting it slip through- but these websites that published the instructions to the entire world shouldn't be excused for their irresponsibilty.

Uh oh, found a way to hack it into the home screen, That is more pearsonel, but this might
be the reason another person, randomly knows my phone mumber, name, and is calling from a blocked number (how do you unblock a number?)